The Project Gutenberg EBook of South America, by W. H. Koebel

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Title: South America

Author: W. H. Koebel

Release Date: February 27, 2006 [EBook #17877]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH AMERICA ***

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[Illustration: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

_From the portrait in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The gift
of Mr. Pierpont Morgan._

_The painting bears the words "Sebastian Venetus, fecit 1519"._

_A. Rischgitz._]

THE MAKING OF THE NATIONS

SOUTH AMERICA

BY

W.H. KOEBEL

AUTHOR OF "SOUTH AMERICA" IN BLACK'S SERIES OF COLOUR BOOKS, "MODERN
ARGENTINA," "MODERN CHILE," ETC.

WITH THIRTY-TWO FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS, ETC., AND MAPS
AND PLANS IN THE TEXT

ADAM & CHARLES BLACK
LONDON MCMXIII

PREFACE

The history of a continent such as South America, confined to the limits
of a single volume of moderate size, must of necessity contain some
elements of mere survey. Nevertheless, since in no other but a condensed
form could the respective strides achieved by the various nations of
this continent be satisfactorily judged and compared, the author is
encouraged to hope that this small work may fill in one of the most
obvious of the many gaps in the English versions of South American
history. He has endeavoured to lay stress on the trend of the
authorities and peoples in question rather than to emphasize the rigid
succession of Governors and Presidents. In the same way, since space has
had to be considered, it was thought desirable to introduce at any
length only those personalities notable for their actions and intrinsic
influence, leaving in the background those others whose only claim to
the interest of posterity lies in the weight of the office they held.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE CONTINENT IN PRE-SPANISH DAYS 1

II. COLUMBUS 14

III. THE SPANISH CONQUISTADORES